Princess Grandma Toph
by kuvira
Summary: Toph bonds with her favorite grandchild in Zaofu. They talk about old friends, death, and Aunt Lin.


"I'm going to make you smell like daffodils." Opal rose from the grass with a small fist full of yellow flowers.

Toph sat with her knees pressed into her chest, "your mother used to say that. It never worked though." She scoffed.

"Can I take your bun down?"

"Sure."

Opal removed the green and yellow headband from her grandmother's head and her white hair fell down to her tailbone, "your hair is so beautiful, Grandma. You're so beautiful."

Toph reached her arm back and felt Opal's right cheek.

She blushed, "that tickles."

Toph smiled.

Opal parted Toph's hair into two halves, the top and bottom. She pulled the top half into a large twisted bun.

"_Gentle, _Opal."

"I'm sorry." She loosened the black elastic around the bun. She slid one daffodil into the center of it. "Princess Grandma Toph. My pretty princess."

Toph smiled. "What if I don't want to be a princess?"

"Oh! Well, what do you want to be, then?" She rested her hands gently on her grandmother's shoulders.

"Hm. Let me think."

"Take your time." She rubbed her shoulders.

Toph couldn't help but laugh, "would you stop that?"

Opal removed her hands, "sorry."

Toph rubbed her forehead with her fingers, "don't worry about it, sweet girl. I'll be your Princess Grandma Toph."

Opal grinned, "oh! We'll have so much fun. We can have tea parties, and we can dance together!"

"I've never done any of that before."

"Not even with Mama and your other daughter?"

"Lin. Your Aunt Lin."

"Yes, right. Aunt Lin."

Toph nodded once, "no, we didn't really play that way. My girls didn't like to play gentle."

"Really!? How did you play?" She was curious.

"We used to fight. We'd throw big rocks at each other."

Opal gasped, "wouldn't that hurt them? Why would you hurt your babies?"

Toph stuck out her tongue and shook her head, "_babies?_ Yuck. And we would bend at each other. No one got hurt."

"Mama and I don't play like that. She trains my brothers with rocks, though. But they don't act like they're playing."

"Do your brothers play with you?"

"Baatar Jr. He's my favorite and he loves me a lot, I know. He tells me."

Toph nodded, "good. That's important."

"Why is that important?" Opal finger combed the bottom half of Toph's hair, picking out small pieces of dirt and the occasional pebble.

"Sometimes we forget to tell the people we love how much they mean to us."

Opal was silent, "I never forget."

"That's good. I used to forget sometimes."

"I don't believe that! You always tell me!"

"Because I know better now."

Opal nodded, "we all make mistakes, Grandma. Sometimes I call Wei Wing and Wing Wei."

"Say that five times fast" Toph challenged.

"Wei Wing Wei Wing Wi Win-" She planted her face into her right palm and started to laugh, falling onto her butt.

Toph spun around to face Opal's direction and scooped her up onto her lap. "You're so silly and I love you."

Opal rested her head against Toph's breasts. "I love you too, Grandma. I'm so happy you live here."

Toph placed part of her bangs behind her right ear. "I'm happy, too."

"Do you have a favorite grandchild?"

Toph pursed her lips, "yeah."

"Who is it?" Opal smiled and bit her bottom lip nervously. She began picking at her left index finger.

Toph laughed, "wouldn't you like to know!"

Opal looked down at her feet then back up at Toph.

Toph placed her right index finger on the center of Opal's forehead. She traced downward until she reached the tip of her nose. "You" she whispered with a smile.

Opal gave Toph a warm embrace, "you're my favorite, too!"

Toph patted on her head and fell onto her back, "it's nap time."

"Okay." She laid beside her grandmother. "Oh no!"

Toph's eyes were closed and her fingers were intertwined on her stomach, "what is it?"

"I just picked the dirt from your hair! It's gonna get dirty again…"

Toph reached her right hand into the dirt and grabbed a handful, sprinkling it onto Opal's head.

Opal surrendered. "Fine."

Toph half-smiled, "lighten up and take a nap."

"Okay." Opal shifted her body on the grass and tried to find a comfortable position.

Toph cracked open one eye, "would you stop squirming?"

"...you can feel me?"

Toph wiggled her toes.

"Oh, right!" Opal placed her arms against her sides and clenched her eyes shut.

"Better."

She relaxed her muscles, "I wish I was an earthbender like you. Then I could be strong."

"Opal, you can be strong without having bending. I knew a ton of super strong non-benders throughout my life. One of my greatest friends who I traveled all over the world with was a non-bender. He was the strongest man I've ever met."

"What was his name?"

Toph smiled, "Sokka."

"Oh, I've heard of him. Mama knew him."

Toph nodded slowly.

"Are all your friends dead?" Opal blurted out. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands and looked over at Toph, hoping she wouldn't get in trouble for asking such a crude question.

Toph's eyes were open and angled up towards the sky, her hands remained folded on her stomach, "no. I still have a few."

"Are you mad at me for asking you that?"

"No."

"Who are they?"

"Katara, Firelord Zuko...some people in Republic City...that's it I guess."

"You miss them?"

"Who?"

"Your friends who are gone?"

Toph shrugged, "I don't know. I miss talking and laughing with them...but I know they aren't _really_ gone. Just somewhere else."

Opal thought about what her grandmother had just said.

"And also," Toph continued.

Opal turned her head to the left and looked at her.

"Though I do miss their company, I was given other people to fill the void in my heart."

Opal was silent. "I don't understand."

"Well, while a lot of my friends are gone, I have new people to love. It's like the universe made sure that I wouldn't feel lonely."

"Like who?" Opal smiled, already knowing the answer.

"Guess who." Toph replied in a mocking tone.

"Me."

Toph nodded.

Opal looked up at the sky. "What do you see?"

"_What do I see?" _

"Mhm."

Toph squinted her eyes, "nothing."

"I see some clouds, and the sky is really big."

"How big?"

"Enormous. Biggest thing in the whole world."

"Can't be that big then, can it?"

"What do you mean?"

"The world is small, so if the sky is the biggest thing, then it can't be that big."

Opal didn't understand. "Where is my Aunt Lin?"

"In Republic City. Keeping it safe."

"When is she coming to visit?"

Toph paused for a minute, "I could ask you the same thing."

"But she's your daughter, shouldn't you know?"

"She's an adult now, Opal. And even when she _was_ young I still didn't know much of what was going on with her."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to be clingy."

"Does she love you?"

Toph shrugged, "I dunno." She scratched her inner ear with her right pinky finger, "I hope so, but I'm not sure that I deserve her love, to be honest. I didn't give her enough of mine."

"...what do you mean?" Opal held her fingers to her lips, totally immersed in Toph's words.

"When people have kids, they- _we_ expect them to love us regardless of our failures. We make horrible mistakes, and still expect them to worship us. But that's unfair, Opal. I can't demand something of my child and not deliver the same thing in return."

"Did you not love her?"

"No, of course I did. More than the whole world."

"You said the world is small."

Toph closed her eyes and exhaled. A small smile formed on her face and she nodded, "I know. See? That's an example of how awful I truly am. Your grandmother is a wretched woman" There was some sarcasm in her response.

"I think I would love her so much."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you do, and I love everything that you love."

Toph nodded, "Good. She needs as much love as she can get."

Su scooched in closer to Toph.

"Wanna know something funny? I always thought it was your mom who needed me the most, because she was _so bad_." Toph laughed, "she gave me such a hard time!"

Opal smiled.

"But it was Lin who really needed me. She always had someone's best interest at heart, and she just wanted to make me proud. That's all she ever wanted."

"I feel like you're proud of her."

"I am." Toph reached over for Opal's hand.

Opal met it with her own.

Toph stroked Opal's knuckles with her thumb.

Opal looked down at her grandmother's hand, wrinkled with age. "I love talking to you, Princess Grandma Toph. You teach me so much."

Toph lifted Opal's hand, pressed it against her lips and kissed it, "I feel the same way."


End file.
